Offshore Lighting Design Investigation using Structural FEA

Victor Lighting is a leading producer of lighting equipment for hazardous, industrial and marine applications. Wilde was engaged to help the company gain insight to the structural performance of a lighting unit under extreme operating conditions through the use of FEA.

The Modelling Process

The Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was conducted within the ANSYS Workbench modelling and meshing environment. The ANSYS DesignModeler and ANSYS Meshing capabilities allowed for geometrical de-featuring of the supplied CAD model, finite element generation using powerful auto-meshing tools and efficient post-processing of the calculated results. Non-linear boundary conditions and material properties were implemented to ensure that the mathematical model was as accurate as possible.

FEA Modelling, Meshing & Analysis Workflow in ANSYS Workbench

The Results

Wilde calculated the deflections and stresses within the light casing that were likely to occur under specified operating conditions. A comparative study was produced to asses the merits of specific design changes. As well as offering finite element expertise, Wilde provided explanations to the structural behaviour mechanisms that were operating together with recommendations to improve the structural performance of the casing.

“We’d like to thank you for your help with this project. Getting such concise and helpful information back will ultimately help in our quest to buy the ANSYS software. ”